Jaynin
4th Level Red Feather
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Ranma ½: The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament?
At the Tendo dojo, it was another normal morning. Normal being entirely relative in this case. Soun Tendo marveled at how his perception of ‘normal’ had changed these past few months. Before, normal had been his daughters awakening, Kasumi going to cook while the others washed up, a pleasant meal at the table and then everyone going about their daily business. But now, normal was…
“Hey! You keep that away from me, you perverted old geezer!” Ranma yelled, trying to dodge Happosai’s buckets of cold water and brush his teeth at the same time while running around the dojo grounds.
“Come now Ranma, surely you wouldn’t deny an old man his daily sustenance!” Happosai paused for a moment to refill his bucket from the pool and resumed chasing Ranma, who was now running along the roof, toothbrush in mouth.
“If you want sustenance, go and eat breakfast like a normal person!” Ranma yelled, kicking Happosai into his father Genma, who toppled into the pool with a splash and rose grumbling, in panda form. Ranma swung into the bathroom, finished brushing his teeth and plopped down to eat, keeping a kettle of hot water handy. “What’s for breakfast today, Kasumi?”
“Good morning Ranma!” Kasumi greeted him, setting the breakfast down at the table as Genma mumbled and took Ranma’s kettle of hot water to change back from a panda.
“Ah, delicious as always!” Genma said, putting the kettle aside and going for the food.
“It’s because Kasumi made it,” Ranma said as he too began to eat. “If Akane had made this we would all choke or die of food poisoning – “
“I heard that!” Akane shouted, throwing a bucket of cold water at Ranma and hitting him in the face.
“What did you do that for?” Ranma complained, now in female form, and reaching for the kettle of hot water. “It’s bad enough that Happosai is always after me, but you – “ Ranma poured hot water on herself and continued. “But you always have to – hey, how come I’m still a girl?”
“Gotcha!” Happosai chuckled, leaping for Ranma’s chest. “I switched ‘em when you weren’t looking – GAH!”
Ranma leaned towards Akane, her elbow in the back of Happosai’s head, and growled, “Akane, you’re always making trouble for me. You are SO uncute.”
“Oh yeah?!?” Akane said, holding up her kettle of hot water. “I suppose you don’t want THIS then!”
“Hey hey! I was only joking!” Ranma said quickly. “C’mon, Akane, I’m sorry! Can I have the kettle?”
“Bah! Who needs an ingrate like you anyway?” Happosai grumbled, squirting free and pulling out a flyer. “This is where I’m going today. Heehee, lots of pretty ladies…” He hugged the flyer to himself and grinned.
“Let me see that,” Nabiki said, snatching it while chewing on her breakfast. “The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament?” She swallowed her food and read on. “Oh, I see where the dirty old man is going. Look at this.” She shoved the flyer at Akane and pointed out a line.
“All contestants must wear clothing that does not cover the susceptible areas – sides, stomach, armpits, feet, etc.,” Akane read. “Oh. So you’re going to stare at scantily clad women, eh?”
“A tickling tournament? With martial arts? Sounds kinda silly to me…” Ranma said, taking the flyer and scanning it. “Whoa! Look at this! 200,000 yen is first prize!”
“There’s a disclaimer,” Nabiki said, taking the flyer back as Ranma went to the kitchen. “All contestants have to go to a preliminary session today if they want to enter. They want to make sure all the contestants are ticklish enough to make it a fair fight – you should enter, Akane,” Nabiki said with a grin.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Akane said, eyes flying open. “I don’t know what you mean – I would be disqualified… heh… heh…” From the looks Akane was getting, she knew she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Yeah, go on and enter, Akane,” Ranma teased, coming out as boy-type and drying his hair. “We’ll get a kick out of it!”
“Ahem,” Soun Tendo said quietly, halting the conversation. “Actually, I think both Ranma and Akane should enter…”
“What? You gotta be kidding me!” Ranma said. “Besides, I ain’t ticklish. I can’t enter.” He stuck out his tongue at Akane.
“Tendo had a point,” Genma said. “There’s the issue of money that it costs to repair the dojo after your… antics… destroy it day after day.”
“But - !” Ranma protested.
“No buts, Ranma my boy!” Genma said. “As a martial artist, it is your duty to honor your obligations! We are guests in this dojo and we must compensate Tendo for damages!”
“I already said I ain’t ticklish!” Ranma said with a note of finality, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He opened them to stare sideways at Nabiki, who was poking his sides and underarms.
“He’s right,” Nabiki said, continuing to experiment. “Nothing at all. In this form, anyway…” Before Ranma could react, he was doused with cold water.
“Will you stop that?” Ranma demanded, glaring at Akane, who giggled. Before she could go on, Ranma whooped in surprise and covered her sides, whirling to face the grinning Nabiki.
“That’s much better,” she said. “You qualify easily now.”
With a grimace, Ranma dumped hot water on himself and said, “Fine! I’ll go to this stupid tournament – but if I win I get to keep half of the money for myself!”
“You greedy pig!” Akane said. “You owe a lot more than 100,000 yen for the damage you’ve caused to my father’s dojo!”
“Me? Greedy? It’s the least I deserve for agreeing to do this at all! In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a guy! Not a girl! So nyah!”
“Nyaaaaah!” Akane retaliated and turned her back. “We’re going to be late for school.”
“You’re so uncute, Akane!” Ranma yelled at her.
Ranma and Akane were walking to school, Ranma balancing on the terraces and fences as usual. Akane was grumbling the whole way about being forced into some stupid tournament to pay for Ranma’s actions! It was so unfair! Ranma should have to enter and that would be that. She would say so when they got home today.
“Ni hao! Ni hao, Ranma!” called a familiar and not unexpected voice as Shampoo biked up to the pair and stopped in front of them. “Ranma, can Shampoo have word with you?”
“Sure, Shampoo, what’s up?” Ranma asked as Akane pretended not to hear anything and glared at Shampoo, who made a face before turning to Ranma.
“Today is big important tournament!” Shampoo cried gleefully, holding up the same Martial Arts Tickling Tournament flyer that had been floating around the dojo earlier that morning. “Prize is much money! Shampoo is going to win prize and be good bride for Ranma, yes?”
“Hey! Who said anything about being a bride?” Akane shouted, a bit annoyed at having been duped into the argument but unwilling to let this Amazon think she owned Ranma or something… “We are going to win that money and help repair our dojo! So you stay out of this!”
“Oh? Ranma is going to enter tournament?” Shampoo asked, poking at his belly for a moment. “Ranma is no ticklish… oh! Silly Shampoo, you going to enter as girl-type, yes?” She giggled.
“Yeah, I guess,” Ranma said with a total lack of enthusiasm.
“You can forget winning that prize,” Akane said. “I’m going to get it and prove to you once and for all that…”
“So you is challenging Shampoo?” the Chinese girl asked with a smirk. “In that case, let us make deal!”
“Deal? What kind of deal?”
“The most important kind,” said a gravelly voice from behind Akane. Shampoo’s grandmother bounced around on her stick and faced the pair of them. “The winner of this tournament, besides collecting the 200,000 yen prize, will also get to go on a date with my son-in-law.”
“Good deal!” Shampoo said, clapping her hands. “Shampoo no lose. Shampoo as good as on date with Ranma already.”
“What? Hey wait a minute!” Ranma cried, waving his hands in protest. “You can’t just give me away as a prize! I’m entering too! What happens if I win?”
“You stay out of this!” Akane shouted. “I don’t care if Ranma is the prize or not! But I’m not going to just sit by and do nothing while our dojo is torn to pieces! So do what you want and date her if you please! Hmmph!”
“So Akane gives up Ranma? In that case…”
“I’m not giving him up!” Akane yelled fiercely. “I’ll beat you easily, Shampoo, and collect that prize!” She turned to Ranma. “That DOESN’T mean I’ll go on a date with you if I win!”
“I never wanted to!” Ranma retaliated. He was interrupted by Shampoo’s grandmother, who bounced in front of Akane.
“Hmm…” she murmured, squinting. Reaching a finger towards Akane, she poked her in the side… Akane went down in a burst of giggles, rolling about on the ground and slapping at her sides as if some phantom was tickling her. In about a minute or so she calmed down and managed to take her feet. “That’s a technique developed over three thousand years of Amazon history, girl,” Shampoo’s grandmother said sagely. “I barely even touched you and you went down like a sack of potatoes.”
Barely touched her, sure, Ranma snorted to himself. He’d lost count after 250 pokes. Shampoo’s grandmother had tickled Akane so fast it had looked like a single poke to anyone too slow to catch it… “Shampoo is learning this special Amazon technique!” she proclaimed. “Then, Shampoo will beat both Akane and girl-type to win prize… and date with boy-type!” Shampoo giggled. “Bye bye Ranma!” She and her grandmother took off.
“You okay Akane?” Ranma asked, watching her brush her school uniform.
“What’s it matter to you anyway?” she burst out fiercely.
“I was just asking if you were okay! It’s this kind of violent behavior that…”
“Fine! I’m incredibly ticklish! Are you happy now, Ranma?”
“Sheesh, I don’t know why you’re so mad about it… it makes you actually seem kinda cute, Akane.”
“Really…?” Akane asked, looking at Ranma for a moment before remembering that she was irritated at him.
There were others who had heard of this deal besides Ranma, Shampoo, and Akane, and they made their own plans for the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament…
“Ranma will be all mine,” Kodachi said, leaping off to Furinken High School while laughing manically, snapping her gymnastics ribbon as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. “I’ll have darling Ranma all to myself after I take care of that girl…”
“Shampoo date Ranma?” Mousse exclaimed in shock. “I can’t allow that, Ranma Saotome… you will never go on a date with Shampoo! I, Mousse, will make sure of that. Hahahaha!” The Fist of the North Star also ran off, formulating his own plans.
Akane was changing for gym class that morning, as usual keeping a watch out for Happosai and Ranma, who while he claimed wasn’t a pervert found many excuses for getting into the girls’ locker room. She always kept a close watch on everything, searching the room completely and locking the door when she left. During her quick patrol today she heard something in the janitor’s closet…
“Ranma! Is it you? Or is it that dirty old… Ah!” Akane cried as Kodachi’s ribbon wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and sending her to the ground with a thud. “You! The Black Rose!”
“That’s right. I heard that you’ve entered the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament trying to win the hand of my darling Ranma,” she sneered. “I’ve come to offer you a chance to back out of that deal.”
“And leave him all to Shampoo? Get real – “
“No, leave him to me! I intend to win that tournament and go on a date with my darling, darling Ranma…” Kodachi sighed dreamily for a moment. “But first to eliminate the competition.” She knelt and deftly sat on Akane’s legs, then flicked off her gym shoes and socks. Akane struggled mightily, her eyes shooting open, because she knew what Kodachi meant for her –
“Gahahahahaahahahahahahahah!!!” Akane squealed, tossing her head back and giggling as Kodachi traced her index fingers along Akane’s soles.
“A little rough, hmm? Must be all that martial arts training you do while barefoot. No matter, they’re still quite sensitive, hmm?”
“Shut up – gahhaahahahahahha!! Ahhahahahahahhaheheehehehehehh hey stoppit!” Akane giggled, feet trying to twitch away from Kodachi’s nails.
“Now if you agree to back out of the tournament, I’ll let you go,” Kodachi giggled, running her fingernails up and down Akane’s soles and drawing forth a fresh burst of laughter. “My, look at you wiggle! You had best quit now or you’ll really get it bad in the tournament!”
“Gyahahahahahaahahahah!!! Ahahahahahehehehehehehehh nehehehe never! I’ll never surrender to the lihihiihiheheheheheeieehahahaah likes of yohouhouhohohou!” Akane wriggled furiously, trying to work herself free of the ribbon… she almost had a grip on the end of it. If she could just grab that and pull…
“Hahahaha! You don’t stand a chance… all you have to do is back out of this silly tournament and it’ll be all over!” Kodachi spiderwalked her fingers along the underside of Akane’s toes. This sent her into such a furor of giggling and squirming that she began to toss Kodachi around.
“GAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHHA!! AHAHAHHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHE HAHAHAHEHEHEHEH!! HEHEHEHEAHAHAHAH!! HAHAHAHAH!! HA AHAHHAHAH!!!” Akane’s twisting and squirming managed to loosen the ribbon enough for her to pull the end and slip free of the strip of fabric, rolling aside and springing to her feet. “Try to resort to your underhanded ways again, huh?” Akane panted, getting into a real martial arts stance and intending to pound the Black Rose, not just tickle her.
“Oh! Well it seems you’ve gotten away this time… no reason I can’t do it again! Ahahahaha!” Kodachi twirled her ribbon…
The door burst open and a small black pig shot into the room, squealing and running for its life. “Ryoga! I’ve got you now, stop trying to hide in the girls’ locker ro – ah, Akane!” Ranma said, skidding to a halt as P-chan leapt into Akane’s arms and snarled at him. “Kodachi? Hey, what are you doing – “
“See you later, Ranma darling!” Kodachi said, twirling her ribbon and sending a flurry of black rose petals at him. By the time they cleared, she was gone.
“Well, Akane, uh…”
“Pervert!!!” Akane screamed, throwing a bucket at Ranma and charging him with a broom. “How many times have I told you to stay out of the girls’ locker room? Oooh!!!”
Ranma fled the room, chased by various janitorial items thrown by Akane, and ignoring the disapproving stares of the girls in the hall, fled the room.
Shampoo stood in a dark, silent room, balancing a bowl on top of her head, concentrating, eyes closed.
With blinding suddenness the feeling came, a poke at her sides – both of them at once, it felt like. A smile wormed its way onto Shampoo’s lips but she remained standing still. The poke resolved itself into what felt like tiny fingers skittering along her sides, up and down for a brief second. The feeling made Shampoo giggle a bit and wiggle her stomach, but after that she compressed her lips into a line again and steeled herself.
Again the feeling came, a little harder this time, pressing into her ribs a bit and tickling along her sides, making her giggle louder and squirm a bit. This time the touches ended more quickly but right on their heels came the feeling of tickling under her arms, surprising the Amazon and making her laugh distinctly for a second before regaining control. The bowl wobbled a bit and Shampoo gasped, then concentrated again.
So it went for a few minutes, random tickle attacks around her upper body, along her stomach and sides, ribs and underarms, making her quake with dangerously unrestrained giggles, the bowl on top of her head wobbling about.
Then came the feeling of something wiggling in her bellybutton.
All at once Shampoo let out a great whoop and giggle, clapped her arms over her belly and doubled over. The bowl clattered down with a crash, shattering into pieces. From the bowl came what seemed to be wispy blue hands made of smoke. In a flash Shampoo was held spread-eagle on the ground as those hands picked up where the other tickling sensations had left off. Shampoo’s eyes sprang open as she felt her shoes leave her feet and began to roar with laughter once the hands commenced tickling her, especially the one on her bellybutton.
“NOOOHOOOHOHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEH NO AHAHAHHAEHEHEHEHEH SHAMPOO HAD ENOUGH!! HAHAAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEH PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHHEEHEHEZE DON’T TICKLE SHAMPOO!!”
“Hmm… you’ve got a long way to go, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother said, hopping over and examining the helpless girl with a critical eye as she shook and roared with laughter. “If you can’t even complete a simple training exercise like this, you’ll never stand a chance at winning the tournament and going on a date with my son-in-law. You’ll have to try again, Shampoo. But first we’ll wait for the enchantment to wear off. Maybe that will provide an incentive to get it right next time.”
“AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHEHEHEHEHEHEEH NOHOOHHOOHHOHO!” Shampoo squealed as the hands delicately ran over her soles and toes, their wispy fingers seeming to tickle like the touch of a hundred feathers. “HEHHEHEHAHAAHAHAHAH NAHAHAHAHAHAH NOT SHAMPOO’S FEEHEHEHEEEEHEHEEET!”
“Don’t worry, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother assured her. “The charm will wear off in about five minutes or so. Think of this as a learning experience and try not to let it bother you so much. It won’t feel so debilitating then.”
“HHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHHAAHAH BUT SHAMPOO IS SO TICKLISH!!! HEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE!!!” Shampoo was finally released from the hands’ grasp as they drifted away into puffs of blue smoke. Shampoo laid on the floor for a moment, giggling still and trying to catch her breath.
“Stand up now, it’s time to try again…”
Ranma walked home with Akane, as usual along the fences and walltops of the streets, trying to ignore her rather bad mood and letting her random outbursts of “Pervert!” and the like roll off of him. Or trying to.
“How many times do I have to say I’m not a pervert!” Ranma yelled. “I’ve seen myself plenty of times! That old lunatic is the pervert!”
“Not only were you being a pervert, you were being mean to P-chan again!” Akane countered, trying to hit him with her bookbag. “I don’t see why you have to be so jealous of a pig!”
“It’s not a pig, it’s – aaaagh! Forget it. You’ll never understand.” With that, they both resumed a stony silence and walked the rest of the way home not looking at each other.
After they had gotten home and settled down from school, however…
“Akane!” Ranma yelled, dripping wet. “What was that – “
“I need your help, Ranma,” Akane said.
“Help?” The request, coupled with the rather civil tone of Akane’s voice, made Ranma sit down and listen. “Okay, what’s up?”
“I need you to help train me for the tournament,” Akane said, rushing out the words. “I need to build some resistance and practice martial arts tickling…”
“No problem!” Ranma said, leaping to her feet. “In fact, this will be a good opportunity for me to practice. Not that I need to of course.” Akane shot him a look and they headed towards the training room. Akane took a turn before they got there, and came back a minute or so later wearing a tank top and shorts. When Ranma looked her over and blinked, Akane shouted:
“What? The rules SAY I’ve got to dress like this! So don’t even get any of your perverted ideas!” Akane hugged her sides and hurried to the dojo. Ranma followed suit, in her undershirt and shorts. “Okay, look,” Akane began when they got there. “The rules of the tournament say that anything goes, so long as you only attack your opponent by tickling them. The first one to surrender loses, or if someone is too tired to get up and continue the fight. Got that?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ranma said cockily. “I’ve got it. So are you ready?”
Akane took a deep breath and assumed her fighting stance. “Ready! Go!” She moved in and launched a kick at Ranma. Ranma caught it with ease.
“Akane, don’t the rules say you’re supposed to only attack with tickling?” Ranma asked, holding her foot and looking at her fingernails. With a shrug she raked them lightly over Akane’s sole.
Akane overbalanced so fast that she fell on her rear, giggling, but managed to recover quickly enough to roll away and spring to her feet again. “Oh yeah, right. Oops.” She turned to face Ranma, but she was already gone! “Huh? Ranma?”
Akane’s answer was a lightning-quick tickling of her stomach. With a screech she twisted wildly, giggling louder than ever, and turned around to face the grinning Ranma. “Geez, Akane, you’re like super-ticklish! How are you ever gonna survive the tournament?”
“That’s what this training is for!” Akane yelled back. “I’ll get over it eventually! So bring it on!” I hope…. Akane added to herself.
Ranma leapt into the air and came down on top of Akane, straddling her across the waist. “Well, then let’s get to it!” Ranma began to use her special Chestnuts on an Open Fire technique…
Akane couldn’t believe it. It felt as if Ranma had grown ten hands and was tickling all over her upper body with every last one of them. And what she hadn’t known was that she was far more ticklish on her upper body than her feet. “GYAHAHAAHAHAHAHH!H!HHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!! RANMA AHHAAHAHEHEHEHHEE! STAHAHAHAAAHHAAHAHAHHAAAP!!!”
“Stop?” Ranma asked. “Isn’t this training?” She kept going, tickling under Akane’s arms for the most part, which seemed to be her worst weakness. Akane’s feeble flailing with her arms was no match for Ranma’s incredible speed. She twisted and thrashed madly.
“GAHAHAHAHHEHEEHEHEH!! HHAAHAHHA NOOHOHOHOOHEHEHHAHAAHH STAHAHAHAAP STOP PLEHEHHEEHEHEEEEHEHEHHEEEEHEEEZE! NAHAHAAHHEHEHEHHAH!!!”
“Well… I dunno…” Ranma said, slowing down a bit and giving her a breather. “You need a break, Akane?”
Akane nodded, breathing a little heavily. She hadn’t realized exactly how ticklish she was, and it was going to take a lot of training to overcome it… In a moment she realized that Ranma was still straddling her. “Pervert! Ooooh! Get off!” With a bucking motion, she tossed Ranma off of her and sprang to her feet. Ranma landed lightly on her own feet and grinned.
“You must have recovered, Akane!” Ranma said with a grin. “That means it’s time for more tickling!”
“Hey, hey, wait a second – gah! Gahahahahhaha!!! AHahhaheeheheheh! Ahahahahahah!!!” Ranma came in again, being considerably more gentle this time, tickling on Akane’s bare belly and sides, and dodging her attempts at retaliation, which were feeble in any case.
Nabiki edged closer for a better view, holding a video recorder to her eye. She was taping this purely for financial reasons – after all, Kuno would pay huge sums of money to get his hands on a video containing his two obsessions tickle fighting each other in scanty costumes…
Ranma picked up on something as she tickled Akane. Snapping her head up, she saw the video recorder pull just out of view… “Hey!” she cried, abandoning Akane and leaping towards the recorder.
Akane was right behind Ranma, and in a flash they were both looking down at Nabiki, who giggled. “Aw, come on now. It’s only a harmless little training video…”
“Like those pictures you took of me and Akane and sold to Kuno?” Ranma asked.
“Give that to me!” Akane demanded, holding out her hand.
“Now let’s be reasonable here,” Nabiki said coolly, completely unruffled as she picked up the camera and stood. “If I give you two a 25% cut each, will you let it go?”
“No!” Akane yelled, making a grab for the recorder again. Ranma slipped around behind Nabiki and gave her sides a quick tickle.
“Eeeep! Heehee!” Nabiki giggled, giving Akane enough time to get the video recorder and pull it away. “Ah well, I guess you two win. Do with the tape what you want. I’m outta here.” With that, Nabiki shrugged and walked off, trying not to feel the cassette in her pocket and snicker.
“Thank goodness,” Ranma said as Akane hefted the camera and they headed inside…
Later that afternoon, the preliminary trials were being held. The line of girls, mostly good-looking and scantily clad girls, extended for a fair distance beyond the entrance of the testing building. From inside the building itself, girls’ laughter could be heard, occasionally screeching loud as a particularly ticklish girl was tested. Ranma wandered into the next available room once it was her turn. In there, she found… “Dr. Tofu?”
“Oh! Hello there!” he said. “And you are?”
“Ranma Saotome,” Ranma answered. “I’m here to register for the… (she sighed) Martial Arts Tickling Tournament.”
“I guessed as much, otherwise you wouldn’t be here!” Dr. Tofu said with a smile. “Okay then. If you’ll lie down on the bed over there, we’ll get the examination started, okay?”
“Okay,” Ranma agreed, laying down on the bed in her undershirt and shorts and kicking off her shoes.
“First we have to test your underarms. So lift ‘em up, please,” Dr. Tofu asked politely. Ranma did so, and Dr. Tofu took out something that looked like a blunted stylus. With it, he gently traced a few circles under Ranma’s left underarm…
Ranma shrieked and instinctively curled up, giggling madly. “HAhhahahahaha!! Ehehehh hey! Watch it!” she said, scowling.
“It seems you’re going to qualify easily!” Dr. Tofu chuckled. “I’ve got to run the test on everywhere, though. So just try and hold still until it’s done, okay?”
Ranma indeed tried to hold still, with all of her willpower. Every single spot on her body seemed to be insanely ticklish! Every spot Dr. Tofu tried was the same – a shriek of laughter followed by curling up and an attempt at defense with her arms. Dr. Tofu even began to tease her a little, poking her bellybutton and watching her curl up while giggling. Finally, he backed off and made some notes.
“Hehehehe… am I done?” Ranma asked hopefully.
“Not quite yet,” Dr. Tofu said, scooting his rolling chair down to her feet. Ranma’s eyes went wide as dinner plates.
“Hey! You’ve already tested me a bunch of times! Stay away!” Ranma said, trying to kick him a bit. With a gentle grin, Dr. Tofu took her ankle and gently ran the stylus up and down her sole…
“GYAHAHAAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEEHHEAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!!!!”
The resulting laugh made everyone in the vicinity of the building look and take notice. Those who were passing by peeked in to see a stunned Dr. Tofu and a panting and still giggling red-haired girl. “I…. I think you pass,” Dr. Tofu said, making down a marking on his clipboard and trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. “You can… go…”
With an irritated growl, Ranma got her shoes and tried to ignore the crowd of staring people.
“That girl will never have a date with my darling Ranma,” Kodachi giggled to herself as she made preparations for next week’s tournament. “Oh, Ranma, you will soon be all mine… hahahahaahahah!!!”
“I cannot allow Ranma to date Akane!” Ryoga growled. “I’ll make sure you lose the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament if it’s the last thing I do…”
“Ranma Saotome, you shall never have Shampoo,” Mousse chuckled quietly to himself. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t date you – even if it means I have to sabotage my own true love to do it… Ahaha… ha ha ha ha!!!”
At the Tendo dojo, it was another normal morning. Normal being entirely relative in this case. Soun Tendo marveled at how his perception of ‘normal’ had changed these past few months. Before, normal had been his daughters awakening, Kasumi going to cook while the others washed up, a pleasant meal at the table and then everyone going about their daily business. But now, normal was…
“Hey! You keep that away from me, you perverted old geezer!” Ranma yelled, trying to dodge Happosai’s buckets of cold water and brush his teeth at the same time while running around the dojo grounds.
“Come now Ranma, surely you wouldn’t deny an old man his daily sustenance!” Happosai paused for a moment to refill his bucket from the pool and resumed chasing Ranma, who was now running along the roof, toothbrush in mouth.
“If you want sustenance, go and eat breakfast like a normal person!” Ranma yelled, kicking Happosai into his father Genma, who toppled into the pool with a splash and rose grumbling, in panda form. Ranma swung into the bathroom, finished brushing his teeth and plopped down to eat, keeping a kettle of hot water handy. “What’s for breakfast today, Kasumi?”
“Good morning Ranma!” Kasumi greeted him, setting the breakfast down at the table as Genma mumbled and took Ranma’s kettle of hot water to change back from a panda.
“Ah, delicious as always!” Genma said, putting the kettle aside and going for the food.
“It’s because Kasumi made it,” Ranma said as he too began to eat. “If Akane had made this we would all choke or die of food poisoning – “
“I heard that!” Akane shouted, throwing a bucket of cold water at Ranma and hitting him in the face.
“What did you do that for?” Ranma complained, now in female form, and reaching for the kettle of hot water. “It’s bad enough that Happosai is always after me, but you – “ Ranma poured hot water on herself and continued. “But you always have to – hey, how come I’m still a girl?”
“Gotcha!” Happosai chuckled, leaping for Ranma’s chest. “I switched ‘em when you weren’t looking – GAH!”
Ranma leaned towards Akane, her elbow in the back of Happosai’s head, and growled, “Akane, you’re always making trouble for me. You are SO uncute.”
“Oh yeah?!?” Akane said, holding up her kettle of hot water. “I suppose you don’t want THIS then!”
“Hey hey! I was only joking!” Ranma said quickly. “C’mon, Akane, I’m sorry! Can I have the kettle?”
“Bah! Who needs an ingrate like you anyway?” Happosai grumbled, squirting free and pulling out a flyer. “This is where I’m going today. Heehee, lots of pretty ladies…” He hugged the flyer to himself and grinned.
“Let me see that,” Nabiki said, snatching it while chewing on her breakfast. “The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament?” She swallowed her food and read on. “Oh, I see where the dirty old man is going. Look at this.” She shoved the flyer at Akane and pointed out a line.
“All contestants must wear clothing that does not cover the susceptible areas – sides, stomach, armpits, feet, etc.,” Akane read. “Oh. So you’re going to stare at scantily clad women, eh?”
“A tickling tournament? With martial arts? Sounds kinda silly to me…” Ranma said, taking the flyer and scanning it. “Whoa! Look at this! 200,000 yen is first prize!”
“There’s a disclaimer,” Nabiki said, taking the flyer back as Ranma went to the kitchen. “All contestants have to go to a preliminary session today if they want to enter. They want to make sure all the contestants are ticklish enough to make it a fair fight – you should enter, Akane,” Nabiki said with a grin.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Akane said, eyes flying open. “I don’t know what you mean – I would be disqualified… heh… heh…” From the looks Akane was getting, she knew she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Yeah, go on and enter, Akane,” Ranma teased, coming out as boy-type and drying his hair. “We’ll get a kick out of it!”
“Ahem,” Soun Tendo said quietly, halting the conversation. “Actually, I think both Ranma and Akane should enter…”
“What? You gotta be kidding me!” Ranma said. “Besides, I ain’t ticklish. I can’t enter.” He stuck out his tongue at Akane.
“Tendo had a point,” Genma said. “There’s the issue of money that it costs to repair the dojo after your… antics… destroy it day after day.”
“But - !” Ranma protested.
“No buts, Ranma my boy!” Genma said. “As a martial artist, it is your duty to honor your obligations! We are guests in this dojo and we must compensate Tendo for damages!”
“I already said I ain’t ticklish!” Ranma said with a note of finality, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He opened them to stare sideways at Nabiki, who was poking his sides and underarms.
“He’s right,” Nabiki said, continuing to experiment. “Nothing at all. In this form, anyway…” Before Ranma could react, he was doused with cold water.
“Will you stop that?” Ranma demanded, glaring at Akane, who giggled. Before she could go on, Ranma whooped in surprise and covered her sides, whirling to face the grinning Nabiki.
“That’s much better,” she said. “You qualify easily now.”
With a grimace, Ranma dumped hot water on himself and said, “Fine! I’ll go to this stupid tournament – but if I win I get to keep half of the money for myself!”
“You greedy pig!” Akane said. “You owe a lot more than 100,000 yen for the damage you’ve caused to my father’s dojo!”
“Me? Greedy? It’s the least I deserve for agreeing to do this at all! In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a guy! Not a girl! So nyah!”
“Nyaaaaah!” Akane retaliated and turned her back. “We’re going to be late for school.”
“You’re so uncute, Akane!” Ranma yelled at her.
Ranma and Akane were walking to school, Ranma balancing on the terraces and fences as usual. Akane was grumbling the whole way about being forced into some stupid tournament to pay for Ranma’s actions! It was so unfair! Ranma should have to enter and that would be that. She would say so when they got home today.
“Ni hao! Ni hao, Ranma!” called a familiar and not unexpected voice as Shampoo biked up to the pair and stopped in front of them. “Ranma, can Shampoo have word with you?”
“Sure, Shampoo, what’s up?” Ranma asked as Akane pretended not to hear anything and glared at Shampoo, who made a face before turning to Ranma.
“Today is big important tournament!” Shampoo cried gleefully, holding up the same Martial Arts Tickling Tournament flyer that had been floating around the dojo earlier that morning. “Prize is much money! Shampoo is going to win prize and be good bride for Ranma, yes?”
“Hey! Who said anything about being a bride?” Akane shouted, a bit annoyed at having been duped into the argument but unwilling to let this Amazon think she owned Ranma or something… “We are going to win that money and help repair our dojo! So you stay out of this!”
“Oh? Ranma is going to enter tournament?” Shampoo asked, poking at his belly for a moment. “Ranma is no ticklish… oh! Silly Shampoo, you going to enter as girl-type, yes?” She giggled.
“Yeah, I guess,” Ranma said with a total lack of enthusiasm.
“You can forget winning that prize,” Akane said. “I’m going to get it and prove to you once and for all that…”
“So you is challenging Shampoo?” the Chinese girl asked with a smirk. “In that case, let us make deal!”
“Deal? What kind of deal?”
“The most important kind,” said a gravelly voice from behind Akane. Shampoo’s grandmother bounced around on her stick and faced the pair of them. “The winner of this tournament, besides collecting the 200,000 yen prize, will also get to go on a date with my son-in-law.”
“Good deal!” Shampoo said, clapping her hands. “Shampoo no lose. Shampoo as good as on date with Ranma already.”
“What? Hey wait a minute!” Ranma cried, waving his hands in protest. “You can’t just give me away as a prize! I’m entering too! What happens if I win?”
“You stay out of this!” Akane shouted. “I don’t care if Ranma is the prize or not! But I’m not going to just sit by and do nothing while our dojo is torn to pieces! So do what you want and date her if you please! Hmmph!”
“So Akane gives up Ranma? In that case…”
“I’m not giving him up!” Akane yelled fiercely. “I’ll beat you easily, Shampoo, and collect that prize!” She turned to Ranma. “That DOESN’T mean I’ll go on a date with you if I win!”
“I never wanted to!” Ranma retaliated. He was interrupted by Shampoo’s grandmother, who bounced in front of Akane.
“Hmm…” she murmured, squinting. Reaching a finger towards Akane, she poked her in the side… Akane went down in a burst of giggles, rolling about on the ground and slapping at her sides as if some phantom was tickling her. In about a minute or so she calmed down and managed to take her feet. “That’s a technique developed over three thousand years of Amazon history, girl,” Shampoo’s grandmother said sagely. “I barely even touched you and you went down like a sack of potatoes.”
Barely touched her, sure, Ranma snorted to himself. He’d lost count after 250 pokes. Shampoo’s grandmother had tickled Akane so fast it had looked like a single poke to anyone too slow to catch it… “Shampoo is learning this special Amazon technique!” she proclaimed. “Then, Shampoo will beat both Akane and girl-type to win prize… and date with boy-type!” Shampoo giggled. “Bye bye Ranma!” She and her grandmother took off.
“You okay Akane?” Ranma asked, watching her brush her school uniform.
“What’s it matter to you anyway?” she burst out fiercely.
“I was just asking if you were okay! It’s this kind of violent behavior that…”
“Fine! I’m incredibly ticklish! Are you happy now, Ranma?”
“Sheesh, I don’t know why you’re so mad about it… it makes you actually seem kinda cute, Akane.”
“Really…?” Akane asked, looking at Ranma for a moment before remembering that she was irritated at him.
There were others who had heard of this deal besides Ranma, Shampoo, and Akane, and they made their own plans for the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament…
“Ranma will be all mine,” Kodachi said, leaping off to Furinken High School while laughing manically, snapping her gymnastics ribbon as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. “I’ll have darling Ranma all to myself after I take care of that girl…”
“Shampoo date Ranma?” Mousse exclaimed in shock. “I can’t allow that, Ranma Saotome… you will never go on a date with Shampoo! I, Mousse, will make sure of that. Hahahaha!” The Fist of the North Star also ran off, formulating his own plans.
Akane was changing for gym class that morning, as usual keeping a watch out for Happosai and Ranma, who while he claimed wasn’t a pervert found many excuses for getting into the girls’ locker room. She always kept a close watch on everything, searching the room completely and locking the door when she left. During her quick patrol today she heard something in the janitor’s closet…
“Ranma! Is it you? Or is it that dirty old… Ah!” Akane cried as Kodachi’s ribbon wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and sending her to the ground with a thud. “You! The Black Rose!”
“That’s right. I heard that you’ve entered the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament trying to win the hand of my darling Ranma,” she sneered. “I’ve come to offer you a chance to back out of that deal.”
“And leave him all to Shampoo? Get real – “
“No, leave him to me! I intend to win that tournament and go on a date with my darling, darling Ranma…” Kodachi sighed dreamily for a moment. “But first to eliminate the competition.” She knelt and deftly sat on Akane’s legs, then flicked off her gym shoes and socks. Akane struggled mightily, her eyes shooting open, because she knew what Kodachi meant for her –
“Gahahahahaahahahahahahahah!!!” Akane squealed, tossing her head back and giggling as Kodachi traced her index fingers along Akane’s soles.
“A little rough, hmm? Must be all that martial arts training you do while barefoot. No matter, they’re still quite sensitive, hmm?”
“Shut up – gahhaahahahahahha!! Ahhahahahahahhaheheehehehehehh hey stoppit!” Akane giggled, feet trying to twitch away from Kodachi’s nails.
“Now if you agree to back out of the tournament, I’ll let you go,” Kodachi giggled, running her fingernails up and down Akane’s soles and drawing forth a fresh burst of laughter. “My, look at you wiggle! You had best quit now or you’ll really get it bad in the tournament!”
“Gyahahahahahaahahahah!!! Ahahahahahehehehehehehehh nehehehe never! I’ll never surrender to the lihihiihiheheheheheeieehahahaah likes of yohouhouhohohou!” Akane wriggled furiously, trying to work herself free of the ribbon… she almost had a grip on the end of it. If she could just grab that and pull…
“Hahahaha! You don’t stand a chance… all you have to do is back out of this silly tournament and it’ll be all over!” Kodachi spiderwalked her fingers along the underside of Akane’s toes. This sent her into such a furor of giggling and squirming that she began to toss Kodachi around.
“GAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHHA!! AHAHAHHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHE HAHAHAHEHEHEHEH!! HEHEHEHEAHAHAHAH!! HAHAHAHAH!! HA AHAHHAHAH!!!” Akane’s twisting and squirming managed to loosen the ribbon enough for her to pull the end and slip free of the strip of fabric, rolling aside and springing to her feet. “Try to resort to your underhanded ways again, huh?” Akane panted, getting into a real martial arts stance and intending to pound the Black Rose, not just tickle her.
“Oh! Well it seems you’ve gotten away this time… no reason I can’t do it again! Ahahahaha!” Kodachi twirled her ribbon…
The door burst open and a small black pig shot into the room, squealing and running for its life. “Ryoga! I’ve got you now, stop trying to hide in the girls’ locker ro – ah, Akane!” Ranma said, skidding to a halt as P-chan leapt into Akane’s arms and snarled at him. “Kodachi? Hey, what are you doing – “
“See you later, Ranma darling!” Kodachi said, twirling her ribbon and sending a flurry of black rose petals at him. By the time they cleared, she was gone.
“Well, Akane, uh…”
“Pervert!!!” Akane screamed, throwing a bucket at Ranma and charging him with a broom. “How many times have I told you to stay out of the girls’ locker room? Oooh!!!”
Ranma fled the room, chased by various janitorial items thrown by Akane, and ignoring the disapproving stares of the girls in the hall, fled the room.
Shampoo stood in a dark, silent room, balancing a bowl on top of her head, concentrating, eyes closed.
With blinding suddenness the feeling came, a poke at her sides – both of them at once, it felt like. A smile wormed its way onto Shampoo’s lips but she remained standing still. The poke resolved itself into what felt like tiny fingers skittering along her sides, up and down for a brief second. The feeling made Shampoo giggle a bit and wiggle her stomach, but after that she compressed her lips into a line again and steeled herself.
Again the feeling came, a little harder this time, pressing into her ribs a bit and tickling along her sides, making her giggle louder and squirm a bit. This time the touches ended more quickly but right on their heels came the feeling of tickling under her arms, surprising the Amazon and making her laugh distinctly for a second before regaining control. The bowl wobbled a bit and Shampoo gasped, then concentrated again.
So it went for a few minutes, random tickle attacks around her upper body, along her stomach and sides, ribs and underarms, making her quake with dangerously unrestrained giggles, the bowl on top of her head wobbling about.
Then came the feeling of something wiggling in her bellybutton.
All at once Shampoo let out a great whoop and giggle, clapped her arms over her belly and doubled over. The bowl clattered down with a crash, shattering into pieces. From the bowl came what seemed to be wispy blue hands made of smoke. In a flash Shampoo was held spread-eagle on the ground as those hands picked up where the other tickling sensations had left off. Shampoo’s eyes sprang open as she felt her shoes leave her feet and began to roar with laughter once the hands commenced tickling her, especially the one on her bellybutton.
“NOOOHOOOHOHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEH NO AHAHAHHAEHEHEHEHEH SHAMPOO HAD ENOUGH!! HAHAAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEH PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHHEEHEHEZE DON’T TICKLE SHAMPOO!!”
“Hmm… you’ve got a long way to go, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother said, hopping over and examining the helpless girl with a critical eye as she shook and roared with laughter. “If you can’t even complete a simple training exercise like this, you’ll never stand a chance at winning the tournament and going on a date with my son-in-law. You’ll have to try again, Shampoo. But first we’ll wait for the enchantment to wear off. Maybe that will provide an incentive to get it right next time.”
“AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHEHEHEHEHEHEEH NOHOOHHOOHHOHO!” Shampoo squealed as the hands delicately ran over her soles and toes, their wispy fingers seeming to tickle like the touch of a hundred feathers. “HEHHEHEHAHAAHAHAHAH NAHAHAHAHAHAH NOT SHAMPOO’S FEEHEHEHEEEEHEHEEET!”
“Don’t worry, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother assured her. “The charm will wear off in about five minutes or so. Think of this as a learning experience and try not to let it bother you so much. It won’t feel so debilitating then.”
“HHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHHAAHAH BUT SHAMPOO IS SO TICKLISH!!! HEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE!!!” Shampoo was finally released from the hands’ grasp as they drifted away into puffs of blue smoke. Shampoo laid on the floor for a moment, giggling still and trying to catch her breath.
“Stand up now, it’s time to try again…”
Ranma walked home with Akane, as usual along the fences and walltops of the streets, trying to ignore her rather bad mood and letting her random outbursts of “Pervert!” and the like roll off of him. Or trying to.
“How many times do I have to say I’m not a pervert!” Ranma yelled. “I’ve seen myself plenty of times! That old lunatic is the pervert!”
“Not only were you being a pervert, you were being mean to P-chan again!” Akane countered, trying to hit him with her bookbag. “I don’t see why you have to be so jealous of a pig!”
“It’s not a pig, it’s – aaaagh! Forget it. You’ll never understand.” With that, they both resumed a stony silence and walked the rest of the way home not looking at each other.
After they had gotten home and settled down from school, however…
“Akane!” Ranma yelled, dripping wet. “What was that – “
“I need your help, Ranma,” Akane said.
“Help?” The request, coupled with the rather civil tone of Akane’s voice, made Ranma sit down and listen. “Okay, what’s up?”
“I need you to help train me for the tournament,” Akane said, rushing out the words. “I need to build some resistance and practice martial arts tickling…”
“No problem!” Ranma said, leaping to her feet. “In fact, this will be a good opportunity for me to practice. Not that I need to of course.” Akane shot him a look and they headed towards the training room. Akane took a turn before they got there, and came back a minute or so later wearing a tank top and shorts. When Ranma looked her over and blinked, Akane shouted:
“What? The rules SAY I’ve got to dress like this! So don’t even get any of your perverted ideas!” Akane hugged her sides and hurried to the dojo. Ranma followed suit, in her undershirt and shorts. “Okay, look,” Akane began when they got there. “The rules of the tournament say that anything goes, so long as you only attack your opponent by tickling them. The first one to surrender loses, or if someone is too tired to get up and continue the fight. Got that?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ranma said cockily. “I’ve got it. So are you ready?”
Akane took a deep breath and assumed her fighting stance. “Ready! Go!” She moved in and launched a kick at Ranma. Ranma caught it with ease.
“Akane, don’t the rules say you’re supposed to only attack with tickling?” Ranma asked, holding her foot and looking at her fingernails. With a shrug she raked them lightly over Akane’s sole.
Akane overbalanced so fast that she fell on her rear, giggling, but managed to recover quickly enough to roll away and spring to her feet again. “Oh yeah, right. Oops.” She turned to face Ranma, but she was already gone! “Huh? Ranma?”
Akane’s answer was a lightning-quick tickling of her stomach. With a screech she twisted wildly, giggling louder than ever, and turned around to face the grinning Ranma. “Geez, Akane, you’re like super-ticklish! How are you ever gonna survive the tournament?”
“That’s what this training is for!” Akane yelled back. “I’ll get over it eventually! So bring it on!” I hope…. Akane added to herself.
Ranma leapt into the air and came down on top of Akane, straddling her across the waist. “Well, then let’s get to it!” Ranma began to use her special Chestnuts on an Open Fire technique…
Akane couldn’t believe it. It felt as if Ranma had grown ten hands and was tickling all over her upper body with every last one of them. And what she hadn’t known was that she was far more ticklish on her upper body than her feet. “GYAHAHAAHAHAHAHH!H!HHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!! RANMA AHHAAHAHEHEHEHHEE! STAHAHAHAAAHHAAHAHAHHAAAP!!!”
“Stop?” Ranma asked. “Isn’t this training?” She kept going, tickling under Akane’s arms for the most part, which seemed to be her worst weakness. Akane’s feeble flailing with her arms was no match for Ranma’s incredible speed. She twisted and thrashed madly.
“GAHAHAHAHHEHEEHEHEH!! HHAAHAHHA NOOHOHOHOOHEHEHHAHAAHH STAHAHAHAAP STOP PLEHEHHEEHEHEEEEHEHEHHEEEEHEEEZE! NAHAHAAHHEHEHEHHAH!!!”
“Well… I dunno…” Ranma said, slowing down a bit and giving her a breather. “You need a break, Akane?”
Akane nodded, breathing a little heavily. She hadn’t realized exactly how ticklish she was, and it was going to take a lot of training to overcome it… In a moment she realized that Ranma was still straddling her. “Pervert! Ooooh! Get off!” With a bucking motion, she tossed Ranma off of her and sprang to her feet. Ranma landed lightly on her own feet and grinned.
“You must have recovered, Akane!” Ranma said with a grin. “That means it’s time for more tickling!”
“Hey, hey, wait a second – gah! Gahahahahhaha!!! AHahhaheeheheheh! Ahahahahahah!!!” Ranma came in again, being considerably more gentle this time, tickling on Akane’s bare belly and sides, and dodging her attempts at retaliation, which were feeble in any case.
Nabiki edged closer for a better view, holding a video recorder to her eye. She was taping this purely for financial reasons – after all, Kuno would pay huge sums of money to get his hands on a video containing his two obsessions tickle fighting each other in scanty costumes…
Ranma picked up on something as she tickled Akane. Snapping her head up, she saw the video recorder pull just out of view… “Hey!” she cried, abandoning Akane and leaping towards the recorder.
Akane was right behind Ranma, and in a flash they were both looking down at Nabiki, who giggled. “Aw, come on now. It’s only a harmless little training video…”
“Like those pictures you took of me and Akane and sold to Kuno?” Ranma asked.
“Give that to me!” Akane demanded, holding out her hand.
“Now let’s be reasonable here,” Nabiki said coolly, completely unruffled as she picked up the camera and stood. “If I give you two a 25% cut each, will you let it go?”
“No!” Akane yelled, making a grab for the recorder again. Ranma slipped around behind Nabiki and gave her sides a quick tickle.
“Eeeep! Heehee!” Nabiki giggled, giving Akane enough time to get the video recorder and pull it away. “Ah well, I guess you two win. Do with the tape what you want. I’m outta here.” With that, Nabiki shrugged and walked off, trying not to feel the cassette in her pocket and snicker.
“Thank goodness,” Ranma said as Akane hefted the camera and they headed inside…
Later that afternoon, the preliminary trials were being held. The line of girls, mostly good-looking and scantily clad girls, extended for a fair distance beyond the entrance of the testing building. From inside the building itself, girls’ laughter could be heard, occasionally screeching loud as a particularly ticklish girl was tested. Ranma wandered into the next available room once it was her turn. In there, she found… “Dr. Tofu?”
“Oh! Hello there!” he said. “And you are?”
“Ranma Saotome,” Ranma answered. “I’m here to register for the… (she sighed) Martial Arts Tickling Tournament.”
“I guessed as much, otherwise you wouldn’t be here!” Dr. Tofu said with a smile. “Okay then. If you’ll lie down on the bed over there, we’ll get the examination started, okay?”
“Okay,” Ranma agreed, laying down on the bed in her undershirt and shorts and kicking off her shoes.
“First we have to test your underarms. So lift ‘em up, please,” Dr. Tofu asked politely. Ranma did so, and Dr. Tofu took out something that looked like a blunted stylus. With it, he gently traced a few circles under Ranma’s left underarm…
Ranma shrieked and instinctively curled up, giggling madly. “HAhhahahahaha!! Ehehehh hey! Watch it!” she said, scowling.
“It seems you’re going to qualify easily!” Dr. Tofu chuckled. “I’ve got to run the test on everywhere, though. So just try and hold still until it’s done, okay?”
Ranma indeed tried to hold still, with all of her willpower. Every single spot on her body seemed to be insanely ticklish! Every spot Dr. Tofu tried was the same – a shriek of laughter followed by curling up and an attempt at defense with her arms. Dr. Tofu even began to tease her a little, poking her bellybutton and watching her curl up while giggling. Finally, he backed off and made some notes.
“Hehehehe… am I done?” Ranma asked hopefully.
“Not quite yet,” Dr. Tofu said, scooting his rolling chair down to her feet. Ranma’s eyes went wide as dinner plates.
“Hey! You’ve already tested me a bunch of times! Stay away!” Ranma said, trying to kick him a bit. With a gentle grin, Dr. Tofu took her ankle and gently ran the stylus up and down her sole…
“GYAHAHAAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEEHHEAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!!!!”
The resulting laugh made everyone in the vicinity of the building look and take notice. Those who were passing by peeked in to see a stunned Dr. Tofu and a panting and still giggling red-haired girl. “I…. I think you pass,” Dr. Tofu said, making down a marking on his clipboard and trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. “You can… go…”
With an irritated growl, Ranma got her shoes and tried to ignore the crowd of staring people.
“That girl will never have a date with my darling Ranma,” Kodachi giggled to herself as she made preparations for next week’s tournament. “Oh, Ranma, you will soon be all mine… hahahahaahahah!!!”
“I cannot allow Ranma to date Akane!” Ryoga growled. “I’ll make sure you lose the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament if it’s the last thing I do…”
“Ranma Saotome, you shall never have Shampoo,” Mousse chuckled quietly to himself. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t date you – even if it means I have to sabotage my own true love to do it… Ahaha… ha ha ha ha!!!”
